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Elections for new leadership and political priorities in the coming years at the centre of Congress Session

Elections for new leadership and political priorities in the coming years at the centre of Congress Session[13/10/2012]

The 23rd Session of the Congress was held from 16 to 18 October 2012 in the Palais de l’Europe, Strasbourg (France), attended by over 300 local and regional councillors from the 47 Council of Europe member countries, in order to discuss the challenges currently facing local democracy. This session was also an opportunity for renewing the leadership and membership of the Congress who will henceforth have 4-year terms of office and who adopted the Congress’s priorities for the 2013-2016 period. Several debates will be held to take stock of the situation of local democracy in the “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and the situation of local and regional democracy in Azerbaijan. A report of the mission to observe local and regional elections in Serbia in May 2012 will also be examined. Evolution of local and regional democracy beyond European borders, in particular in the Arab countries, will also be on the agenda, as well as several different strands of local and regional democracy. The speakers will include the Estonian Minister for Regional Affairs, Siim Kiisler, the Albanian Deputy Minister for the Interior, Ferdinand Poni, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, and the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni.